Etc.

Every parent, it is said, wants to be proud of his (or her) child's accomplishments. Now, those might be in the classroom, on a skateboard at the local half-pipe ramp, or, in Lim Ding Wen's case, on an iPhone. On an iPhone? Uh-huh. Lim has become fluent in no fewer than six programming languages – to the point that he can write applications for the high-profile device from Apple Inc. In fact, his latest has been downloaded from Apple's iTunes store more than 4,000 times since its release Feb. 1. Called "Doodle Kids," it allows the user to make designs on the touchscreen using random shapes of varying sizes and colors. The screen is cleared simply by giving the unit a good shake. Not content with that, he's already at work on a new science fiction game, "Invader Wars." Lim, who lives in Singapore, said his younger sisters, who like to draw, inspired the original program. If you're wondering, he is 9 and in the fourth grade. His father, Lim Thye Chean, chief technical officer for an unidentified Singapore company, set this prodigy on his path at ... age 2. Dad also writes iPhone applications, and each night after he comes home from the office, "we check the statistics to see who has the most downloads." When the son isn't busy at the computer, he's reading books on the subject. Whether he's also into skateboarding hasn't been reported. But the guess here is no.